TÜSİAD, the Turkish Industry and Business Association (), is

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

's top business organization. Founded in 1971, TÜSİAD is a voluntary, independent, non-governmental organization dedicated to promoting public welfare through private enterprise. TÜSİAD promotes principles of

participatory democracy Participatory democracy, participant democracy, participative democracy, or semi-direct democracy is a form of government in which Citizenship, citizens participate individually and directly in political decisions and policies that affect their ...

, a competitive market economy,

environmental sustainability Sustainability is a social goal for people to co-exist on Earth over a long period of time. Definitions of this term are disputed and have varied with literature, context, and time. Sustainability usually has three dimensions (or pillars): env ...

, and universal freedoms and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

. The Association supports independent research and policy discussions on important social and economic issues in Turkey and abroad. TÜSİAD is composed of CEOs and executives from major industrial and service companies in Turkey, including

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

companies. The current Chairman is Orhan Turan and the Secretary-General is Ebru Dicle.

About

TÜSİAD represents more than 4,000 member companies, which represent half of Turkey's value-added, 80% of Turkey’s total foreign trade volume, more than 50% of private sector employment, and 80% of corporate tax revenue.

Structure

TÜSİAD headquarters are in Istanbul, and there are seven representative offices:

Ankara Ankara is the capital city of Turkey and List of national capitals by area, the largest capital by area in the world. Located in the Central Anatolia Region, central part of Anatolia, the city has a population of 5,290,822 in its urban center ( ...

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Washington, D.C Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Beijing Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...

, and

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. TÜSİAD's activities are structured around round tables led by members of the board of directors and 36 working groups. TÜSİAD partners with the

Brookings Institution The Brookings Institution, often stylized as Brookings, is an American think tank that conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics (and tax policy), metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, global econo ...

, the

German Marshall Fund of the United States The German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) is a non-partisan American public policy think tank that seeks to promote cooperation and understanding between North America and the European Union. Founded in 1972, through a gift from the We ...

, and the

St. Petersburg International Economic Forum The St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF; ) is an annual Russian business event for the economic sector, which has been held in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg since 1997, and under the auspices of the President of Russia since 2 ...

(SPIEF). TÜSİAD is a member of the

Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct are recommendations on responsible business conduct addressed by governments to Multinational corporation, multinational enterprises operating in or from the 52 adher ...

(BIAC), Global Business Coalition, and

BusinessEurope The Confederation of European Business, shortened as BusinessEurope, is a Lobbying, lobby group representing enterprises of all sizes in the European Union (EU) and seven non-EU European countries. It is made up of 40 national industry and employe ...

Political context

TÜSİAD is recognized as Turkey's secular, pro-Westernization business organization, while MÜSİAD caters to conservative Muslim entrepreneurs. In the early 2000s, TÜSİAD coordinated heavily with the newly elected AKP majority, with the shared aim of joining the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. TÜSİAD is also credited with laying the groundwork for Turkish support for the

Annan Plan The Annan Plan (), also known as the Cyprus reunification plan, was a United Nations proposal to resolve the Cyprus dispute. The different parts of the proposal were based on the argumentation put forward by each party (Turkish Cypriots and Gree ...

Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

. However, as the EU accession process began to deteriorate in 2006, then-Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan's administration reversed course away from the EU, driving a wedge between the two. Since then, TÜSİAD has embarked on a project of

public diplomacy In international relations, public diplomacy broadly speaking, is any of the various government-sponsored efforts aimed at communicating directly with foreign publics to establish a dialogue designed to inform and influence with the aim of bui ...

, opening representative offices in European capitals and

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

to engage and collaborate with relevant actors in the private sector and the general public. In June 2016, TÜSİAD released a statement criticizing a proposed law which would enhance the government’s authority to appoint boards of trustees for companies. The controversial article was later removed from the law. Turkish President

Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (born 26 February 1954) is a Turkish politician who is the 12th and current president of Turkey since 2014. He previously served as the 25th prime minister of Turkey, prime minister from 2003 to 2014 as part of the Jus ...

has criticized TÜSİAD on multiple occasions. In April 2015, Erdoğan was critical of comments made about the Turkish economy. In December 2014, Erdoğan criticized the organization for apparently sidestepping his office after then TÜSİAD President Haluk Dinçer explained the organization works with the prime minister and ministers whose business is related to the organization’s efforts, not the president. Though occasionally at odds politically with the ruling AKP, they are a united front on economic matters; immediately following the July 15th 2016 coup attempt, TÜSİAD took out ads in major world newspapers and held high-level meetings with American and European think tanks,

NGO A non-governmental organization (NGO) is an independent, typically nonprofit organization that operates outside government control, though it may get a significant percentage of its funding from government or corporate sources. NGOs often focus ...

s, and government officials in tandem with Turkish government officials in order to brandish Turkey's image abroad and reassure investors of Turkey's economic and political health.

Presidents

* 1971–1979

Feyyaz Berker Feyyaz Berker (October 7, 1925 – August 22, 2017) was a Turkish businessmanTekfen Holding. He was one of the three co-founders and owners of the Tekfen Holding. Biography Born on October 7, 1925, in Mersin, Turkey, Feyyaz was the son of Muht ...

* 1980–1984

Ali Koçman Ali ibn Abi Talib (; ) was the fourth Rashidun caliph who ruled from until his assassination in 661, as well as the first Shia Imam. He was the cousin and son-in-law of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. Born to Abu Talib ibn Abd al-Muttalib an ...

* 1985

Şahap Kocatopçu Şahap Kocatopçu (1916–2012) was a Turkish engineer, politician and businesspeople. He was the minister of industry for two times in the cabinets established after the military coups. He headed several state and private companies. Early life ...

* 1986

Sakıp Sabancı Sakıp Sabancı (7 April 1933 – 10 April 2004) was a Turkish business tycoon and philanthropist. Biography He was the second son of a cotton trader and worked in his father's business without completing high school. He was the head of Turkey's ...

* 1987–1988

Ömer Dinçkök Omar is the most common English rendition of a series of names, predominantly masculine given names, originating in a variety of languages. The name may have several different spellings in English, with variations based on the original language tha ...

* 1989–1990

Cem Boyner Cem Boyner (born September 23, 1955) is a Turkish businessman in the textile industry, owner of department stores, and was a short-time politician. Early life and education Cem Boyner was born on September 3, 1955, in Istanbul to Osman Boyner, a ...

* 1991–1992 Bülent Eczacıbaşı * 1993–1996 Halis Komili * 1997–1998 Muharrem Kayhan * 1999–2000 Erkut Yücaoğlu * 2001–2003

Tuncay Özilhan Tuncay Özilhan (born 9 July 1947) is a Turkish businessman and billionaire. He is the current chairman of the board of Anadolu Group, as well as the president of Anadolu Efes. He was also the president of TÜSİAD TÜSİAD, the Turkish Indust ...

* 2004–2006

Ömer Sabancı Ömer Sabancı (born 1959) is a Turkish businessman and a member of Turkey's second-wealthiest Sabancı family in third generation in Turkey. Biography He was born 1959 in Adana as the first son of Hacı Sabancı (1935–1998), son of Hacı Öm ...

* 2007–2009

Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ Arzuhan Doğan Yalçındağ (born 1965)TUSIAD Elects New C ...

* 2010–2013

Ümit Nazlı Boyner Ümit is a unisex Turkish given name and occasional surname, meaning “hope”, originated from the Persian name, Omid. Notable people with the name include: Given name * Ümit Aydın (born 1980), Turkish footballer * Ümit Haluk Bayülken (192 ...

* 2013–2014 * 2014–2015 Haluk Dinçer * 2015–2017 Cansen Başaran–Symes * 2017–2019 Erol Bilecik * 2019–2022 Simone Kaslowski * 2022– Orhan Turan

External links

TÜSİAD (Official Website)

TÜSİAD Washington Representative Office

References

{{Authority control Business organizations based in Turkey Conservatism in Turkey Organizations established in 1971 Organizations based in Istanbul 1971 establishments in Turkey